Shepherd’s Pie
When it’s chilly and rainy outside like fall weather, even if it’s the middle of spring, I think of homey comfort foods. One of my recent favorites is Shepherd’s Pie. I hated this dish when I was a kid and my mom made it. My mom is a great cook so I don’t know why I disliked it so much. I think it’s one of those older recipes that has made a comeback. And, literally, up until a year or so ago, I had never eaten it. Something suddenly made me think of Shepherd’s Pie and I wanted to try it again to see if I had changed my mind about it, and ,somehow, I came across Alton Brown’s recipe for it and tried it and have loved it ever since. He uses ground lamb, but I use ground round or sirloin. Since one of the days last week was a rainy, chilly day, I felt like making it, and, thankfully, my rosemary survived the “winter” in my garage and my thyme never really died in my herb garden outside, so I had the fresh herbs instead of having to buy them. I have used dried herbs before and they work perfectly well, but I like to use the fresh when I can.
Made My Bed and Curled Up In It
from gograph.com
Steven and I moved into our new apartment over two weeks ago now. I thought I would feel really strange living with someone for the first time, but I haven’t felt this comfortable living with someone since I was a child. As I think I’ve mentioned, my family moved a lot as I was growing up (not that I’m done, lol.) I’ve come to love moving.
The best part is going through my things again. Since almost everything I own has been in storage for 9 months, each box I opened was somewhat of an adventure. Yeah, I labelled everything, but still…
A photo album here. A couple of writing portfolios. Several boxes of books–Beats literature, Brit lit, poetry journals, anthologies, etc. And then there’s the dishes, which I never though much about before, but suddenly seem so integral.
Originally, when my stepmother gave me her old dishes, I didn’t know what I would ever do with serving dishes and multiple wine glasses. Now I realize that I have a home, my home, our home, the home that I will have people over for dinner. The home we pull out all of the wine glasses to toast to friends and family. Continue reading
Spring Storm Preparation…
Living in Indiana during storm season is something I’ve always loved. During my high school years, my family lived in a large ranch style home (with a full basement) out in the middle of the country and oftentimes when a storm was brewing, we’d sit outside and watch the rain come across the cornfield. Cornfield. That wasn’t stereotypical for Indiana, was it? 
For real, though. I love storms. The rain. The lightening. The thunder. The big blobs of orange and red on Chuck Lofton’s radar. Since I’m afraid of everything else (heights, roller coasters, lakes, oceans, ghost sounds in the baby monitor, etc.), storms were one thing I kinda looked forward to…
Until now. Back then, I had the comfort and safety of:
1. My mom, who always created a lovely, comfortable nest in the bathtub for my brother and sister. Candles surrounding us. Radio on the bathroom sink. Dad sitting in the living room pretending like we were all crazy and a tornado really wasn’t going to strike us.
2. The basement, where I could sleep through an F4 tornado and not even know it. My bedroom was there. No windows. No outside walls. Straight up PEACEFUL sleeping while Dorothy and Toto blew away outside. Continue reading
The day the track goes to the dogs
This weekend is the annual Mutt Strut benefiting the Humane Society of Indianapolis. On Saturday, April 28, dog lovers across Central Indiana will form teams or go as individuals and walk their dogs around the 2 ½ mile oval at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Last year more than 6,000 people attended the event. Hopefully this year the attendees with be even greater, despite the weather forecast predicting cold temps and rain.
I walked the Mutt Strut several years back with some friends. I took my best dog friend Jasmine and we had such a good time. I vowed to do it again (what a fun event to do with your dog AND raise money to help other dogs!) but each year something seem to come up. We’re out of town once again this year, but a good friend has formed a team and I’ll be contributing to the cause.
If you’re interested in participating, you can still sign up online or sign up the day of the event. If you can’t join, but still want to pledge a donation, you can do that too. For all the details, check out IndyMuttStrut.org.
Dried Cherry Scones
One of my very favorite flavor combinations is chocolate and orange. Another one is cherry and almond. I had never had this combination until I made these scones and from then on I was in love. I saw Ina Garten, The Barefoot Contessa, make them on her show and then found the recipe on the Food Network website (the recipe is courtesy of the Blacksmith Inn, Bailey’s Harbor, WI). The whipping cream and butter make a wonderfully textured scone and the sliced almonds on top give them that extra almond flavor and crunch. The dried cherries throughout are just tart enough to give a perky mouthful of flavor. Obviously, they’re great for breakfast, but also, for afternoon tea, or even with a scoop of ice cream for dessert. Continue reading
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